A Sacramento synagogue is declaring itself a sanctuary for refugees and undocumented people living in the United States, in response to rising fears about deportations.
Congregation B’nai Israel voted earlier this month to become a sanctuary. Sacramento Area Congregations Together, or Sacramento ACT, says other churches and synagogues are discussing the issue of sanctuary status.
Rev. Elizabeth Griswold says she is willing to do whatever it takes to fight a possible federal raid on Immigrants in her community who live in the U.S. illegally.
"I'll go to jail if I have to," said Griswold, speaking on the hypothetical situation that federal agents come to her congregation doors while housing immigrants.
The pastor at Parkside Community Church, United Church of Christ, in the Land Park area of Sacramento, says her congregation will be discussing joining other congregations in Sacramento when it comes to becoming a sanctuary if need be.
or Sacramento County’s undocumented residents, life is increasingly uncertain. With an incoming federal administration headed by President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed to defund so-called “sanctuary cities” and jump-start mass deportation, one threat that has so far flown under the radar is what might happen to Sacramento County’s recently revived health care program for undocumented immigrants.
When she was 12, Jamie Savoy let out a cry for help that she says no one answered.
Facing abuse from an older adult, Savoy says she lashed out in self-defense and was repaid with a two-year stint in juvenile hall before getting turned back to the streets. The pain of being treated like a criminal at such a young age, however, set her on a self-destructive path of more crime. After she turned 18, the criminal justice system claimed her again, labeling Savoy a felon for life.
Twenty-five years after her first arrest, those scars are why she’s working with Sacramento Area Congregations Together to build support for California’s Proposition 57.
“When I was a child, they never put me in the care of someone who could help change my thoughts and direction,” she recalled. “After what I’d been through, it created a vicious cycle.”
